Still Learning
by NoteEmmy
Summary: Atem catches Kaiba exhibiting behaviors he's never seen before.


Atem had little grasp about what was going on. He was groggy, realizing he was lying down. Had he been sleeping for a long time? He couldn't quite remember how he'd gotten …wherever he was. It wasn't unusual for him to wake up with little understanding of his surroundings for a few moments. Not sleeping on a regular pattern did that. When his body finally forced it or he submitted to it for lack of better idea, it made waking up all that much harder. It was still dark in the large room.

Large. He was at Kaiba's. The curtain were pulled but he could see a dark blue starting to stream in. A poor substitute for light. Maybe it was still late night, starting to break towards dawn. That meant he should probably go back to sleep.

He was cold. Shirtless. That could only really mean one thing. He'd come home with the other and they'd had sex and passed out. But as he shifted, just enough, he realized he was still wearing one belt and his pants. The shift caused the arm around his middle to clutch at him tighter, pulling him towards a warm chest. It was a pity he was lying on his back. He really would have liked to cuddle up to Seto.

But from experience he knew that any more shifting would startle the brunet into waking. It would ruin everything. As his sight adjusted to the dark he saw Kaiba was still fully clothed. It was rare, extremely rare, that he'd pull Kaiba home with the intent to just sleep. Sex would put the both of them out enough. And it didn't explain his half state of undress-

The events started lighting up behind his eyes as he closed them. They had come home with the intent of sex. But they'd both fallen asleep before they'd really gotten anywhere. How embarrassing. How utterly sad. He opened his eyes to try and get a better look at Kaiba's face from where he was lying. Slowly he raised his arms to hold over the one around him. It was as much as he was going to get, he knew.

For a moment he weighed the pros and cons of turning on his side enough to snuggle up. Kaiba might jolt, realized what had happened and rush through his morning ritual and go to work. That would be awful. Atem was still tired yet. There was probably no way he'd follow after. He hated being left alone in this place. But if he could quiet Kaiba's initial wake quick enough then maybe he'd have a chance.

He just knew he couldn't try to slink his way into it. Somehow he had a feeling that would make Kaiba's resting mind even uneasier. He was less trustful when sleeping than awake. It was ridiculous. And it made sleeping next to him hard when the both of them weren't out cold. A chill skated across his skin and he realized one arm wasn't going to be enough.

Despite only seconds ago convincing himself that slinking his way towards his goal here wasn't the right option, he did turn slowly, enough to angle his head up. His deciding factor was hinged upon how Kaiba looked. It was still hard to see in the low light but he could hear his rival's deep breathing. Calm. Easy. It wasn't how he'd normally appropriate the CEO's appearance. He couldn't help a small smile. He could, however, stow his want to reach up and brush some of the stray brown bangs away from his face. That would certainly do him in.

He closed his eyes then, wondering if he could really just keep to himself. Waking up Kaiba felt like a bad idea. Even the thought now left him with a heavy guilt. Kaiba rarely slept. Waking him up… it just didn't feel right.

But he was cold. How he'd managed to sleep this long without reaching for the embrace of the covers or without turning to Kaiba in the first place was beyond him. He waited, trying to force himself back into sleep instead but it just wasn't working. He felt anxious, like he was about to preform some big heist or a move that might get him killed in Duel Monsters. If this went wrong his game was over for tonight.

As quick as he could he angled his hips up so that he could turn to his side and hide his face in Kaiba's chest. As predicted the brunet stirred hard, jerked awake but Atem clutched at the open edges of his shirt. He refused to let go. And he pretended to be asleep. He felt silly as he heard Kaiba mumbling something about what time it was, work and what was going on after the initial panic of being shaken awake left. He timed his breathing, slowly in, slowly out.

Atem realized Kaiba was refraining from moving too hard. He must have realized Atem was cuddled up to him. Then he knew he felt Kaiba staring at him before settling back in. He wished he could have looked up at the man, said something- but knowing that Kaiba was looking at him made him feel uneasy. Did the other know he was awake? Pretending? Waiting for him to drop the facade? He was stupid. Of course Kaiba would-

"Idiot." He heard Seto murmur before feeling those finely manicured nails run through side of his hair and back. Warmth spread through him as Kaiba finally settled all the way and wrapped both arms around him. Did he do this all the time? Often he'd wake up in Kaiba's embrace but he thought it was more manual in sleep than planned. Of course Kaiba wouldn't want to get caught acting this way. Atem had been led astray.

But now he knew. And he was having a hard time keeping his face a calm natural rather than letting himself burst out into a dumb smile. A very hard time. He couldn't give himself away. It just made falling asleep that much harder. He was even surprised when Kaiba drifted so easily back into it and he was left alone again in the room. The last one awake. This was a weird reverse of the normal. Now he had to wonder how often Kaiba did this. Waited until he was asleep, ran his hands through his hair, ….called him an idiot.

Well he thought he knew how often Kaiba did that normally. Now he'd have to double that. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Still after all this time he was learning things about Kaiba. His behaviors- the behaviors brought out by thinking no one was paying attention. As he started drifting again, warm and content, he tried to formulate plans to find out. They escaped his grasp once he fell fully into sleep, the both of them still cuddled up.


End file.
